Resolve plaints of tenants on power subsidy: Kejriwal directs Jain

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday asked the Power Minister Satyender Jain to ensure that no domestic electricity consumer in capital city should be deprived of the relief being provided by the government on electricity tariffs. Kejriwal has recently received some grievances from tenants residing in different parts of Delhi during public hearings that they are not getting the benefit of the concessions being provided by the Delhi Government to the residents of the national capital by and large.

The Government of Delhi provides 50 percent subsidy on electricity tariffs up to 400 units on domestic electricity connections for all residents of Delhi. However, in several cases the house owners do not pass on the benefit to the tenants, and as a result the tenants are not getting the benefit of this scheme.

In addition to the electricity subsidy, the Delhi Government has not let the power tariff go up in the last three years, thus making power tariff in Delhi one of the cheapest in the country. While over 36 lakh households are getting subsidy from AAP government schemes. Currently, electricity rates start at Rs 4 per unit for consumption of up to 200 units, going up to Rs 5.80-5.90 per unit for 200-400 units, Rs 7.30 per unit for 400-800 units and higher for more consumption.

In order to do away with this problem of the tenants in Delhi, the Chief Minister has written to the Power Minister. The CM in his letter has said, rationalizing the rates of electricity consumption has been done to reduce the extra burden of erstwhile enhanced rates on each consumer. The Minister has been asked to prepare a road map for providing the benefit to each and every tenant residing in the city.